Toy



w. D. TORME March 31, 1936.

TOY

Filed Aug. 24, 1954' 35 %Ve72z%7t' V WZZZZQ??? 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 31, 1936.

w. D. TORME I 2,035,624

TOY

FiledAug. 24, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 31, 1936 TOY William D. Torme, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Walk- Em Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application August 24, 1934, Serial No. 741,327 10 Claims. (01. 46 -157) This invention relates particularly to toy devices, and is especially desirable as embodied in a walking toy.

A primary object is to provide a simply and cheaply constructed toy figure which is capable of walking, or simulating a walking movement, as when the figure is placed upon an incline or pulled by a string.

The invention is applicable to toy figures having one or more pairs of legs. Thus, for example, it may be embodiedv in a biped, a quadruped, or in a figure having more than two pairs of legs.

The toy figure may be made of any suitable material. Preferably, it is made principally from thin cardboard, or stiff paper. The joints between the legs and the body are made from a very thin flexible resilient fiat material, preferably from very thin sheet brass.

In a preferred embodiment, the body, having three dimensions, is of integral construction. For example, a thin piece of cardboard may be blanked into suitable form and folded to form the body, the head, and also the tail, in the present toy. Suitable interlocking tabs are employed, and interlocking tabs may be provided at the base portions of the neck and tail, these being the final interlocking tabs of the structure, and also serving to maintain the head and tail in the proper longitudinal plane. Also, in a preferred construction, each pair of legs is attached to the body by means of an integrally formed joint-member having interlocking connection with the body and with the legs.

Where the body is provided with two or more pairs of legs, the legs themselves may be of very simple construction, such as 2. ply of thin cardboard disposed in a single plane. Where the figure is a biped, it has been found desirable to make the pedal extremities of three dimensions, or, at least, give to the feet a substantial width. Also, it has been found desirable to provide the feet with forward and rearward extensions which are in themselves somewhat flexible and resilient.

' Preferably, the feet are sufficiently arched to give to them a certain degree of springiness. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, two embodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, one figure being a biped, and the other being a quadruped.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a blanked sheet prior to its being folded to form a body of a toy quadruped figure; Fig. 2, an elevational'view of a hind leg adapted for use on a quadruped toy;

Fig. 3, a similar view of a fore leg; Fig. 4, an elevational view of a resilient joint-member for connecting the legs to the body of the figure; Fig. 5, a plan View of a blanked sheet prior toits being folded to form the body of a toy biped; Fig. 6, a plan view of a blanked sheet prior to its being folded to form a foot and leg for a biped; Fig. 7, an elevational view of an assembled quadruped figure; Fig. 8, a top plan view of the same; Fig. 9, a front elevational view; Fig. 10, a broken bottom plan view showing the interlocking connection for the side members of the body; Fig. 11, a broken perspective view showing an interlocking connection between the tenon portions of the joint-member with one of the legs; Fig. 12, an elevational view of a toy biped in walking position on an incline; Fig. 13, a front elevational View of the same; and Fig. 14, a plan view of the biped.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a suitably blanked sheet provided with interlock-tabs for a quadruped toy figure; B, a thin resilient toymember; C, a fore leg for a quadruped figure; D, a hind leg for the same; and E, a leg and foot member for a biped figure.

Referring to the blank shown in Fig. 1, it will be seen that it comprises side members [5 and I6 connected to a central member I! by folded lines 18. The folds are indicated by dotted lines and are formed by scoring the upper or lower side depending upon which way the member is tobe bent. The degree of scoring may also be varied toaccommodate various degrees of bending. The figure is shown provided with a head portion I9 and a tail portion 20 which are joined to the side member It by means of intermediate sections 2i from which are cut interlocking tabs 22. The side member l5 and the central member ll are provided with tab portions 23 equipped with slots 24 for reception of the tab members 22 after the member has been folded to form the body. The side member i5 is further provided with an interlock-tab 25 which is adapted to interlock with tab 26 of the side member H6 at the bottom side of the figure. Slits 21 are provided at the lower front portion for reception of the joint-member B. Additional slits 28 are provided at the rear of the figure for the joint-member holding the hind legs. The angles of the slits 21 and 28 are rather important in the various figures, and preferably are'inclined a few degrees from the vertical plane as shown in Fig. '7. These angles may be varied for different figures and in some cases inclined forwardly rather than rearwardly. After the body has been folded into the position shown in Figs. 7 and 8 and the connecting tabs inserted, the head and tail will be centrally disposed with respect to the body as shown in Fig. 8, so that the weight is substantially equalized for each leg.

The member B may be of any thin elastic and resilient material such as brass, steel, celluloid, stifi' paper or the like, but preferably is of a thin non-rusting metal such as brass. The member is provided with a transverse portion 29 adapted to engage in slits 2! and 28, and is shown with arched limb-portions 30 having tenons 3| to which the legs may be interlocked. As will be clear from Figs. 2 and 3, the legs D and E are provided with slits 32 to receive the tenons. As shown in Fig. 11, the tenons, after impaling the leg member, are pressed downwardly so that the slots 33 in the tenon members permit an interlocking connection to be made. This connection, while easily effected, is very secure and holds the legs in proper position. As shown in Figs. 2, 3 and '7, the fore leg C is shaped differently from the hind leg D, but both pairs of legs are rounded on their lower sides to form a rocker-like contacting portion 34 which facilitates the walking movement when the figure is placed on an inclined plane or drawn forwardly along a roughened surface by means of a spring 35. As the body is moved forwardly with respect to the legs, the body is raised slightly until the spring member B has sufiicient force to throw the leg forwardly and permit that portion of the body to be lowered. This causes an. automatic waddling action which gives a very amusing simulation of a walking movement.

Fig. 5 illustrates a form of blank for a toy biped figure. The blank is generally similar to the one shown in Fig. 8 and comprises side members 40 and 4| equipped with appendages in the form of arms 42 and 43. The tail 44 and head 45 have connecting portions 46 provided with interlocktabs 41, as in the quadruped figure. The side members are connected by a central member 48. The side members are further provided with connecting strips 49 and'BEl equipped with slots 5| and an interlock-tab 52. It will be readily understood that the blank may be folded along the scored lines 53, and by inserting the tabs 41 and 52 through the adjacent slots 5|, a figure shown in Figs. 11-14 will be obtained. The side members are provided with slits 54 to receive a jointmember B shown in Fig. 4.

The legs E for the biped figure may also be formed from blanks of the character shown in Fig. 6. The blank has a leg portion 55 equipped with slits 56 for the member B and has a slot 51 to receive an interlock-tab 58. However, the folded lines 59 are arcuate so that when the side portions 6|! and 6| of the foot member are turned upwardly, the intermediate portion 62 will be arched as indicated at 63 in Fig. 12. The intermediate portion is provided with integrally formed forward and rearward extensions 64 which prevent the biped from tipping forwardly or rearwardly, and their springy action greatly aids the walking movement of the assembled figure. Thus it will be understoo that a resilient foot member may be provi ed from the same material,

cardboard for example. which is used to form the leg, and it is unnecessary to provide any reinforcing spring. A right and left leg are provided and are attached to the body by means of a jointmember B in the manner described above.

The assembled figure may be placed on an in.-

cline as indicated in Fig. 12, and by tipping the member slightly, it will commence to rock and advance down the incline, moving one foot in advance of the other alternately.

It will be understood that all of the blanks needed to form various comic figures may be blanked out and form pages for a child's book, and the child may press the blanks out of the pages and form his own walking toys without the use of glue, bolts, pivots, or fasteners other than the frictionally held joint-member B.

In practice, it has been found that toy figures which stand about six inches high may be made of cardboard or bristol-board having a thickness of about .03", and the metallic joint-member may be approximately .006" in thickness. Larger figures and heavier cardboard will require the use of heavier joint-members to obtain satisfactory results. Figures may be formed in the same manner which have a considerably greater length and being made of stronger material, may be drawn along a roughened surface by means of a string. The smaller models may be operated very successfully on an inclined piece of cardboard, or table leaf. The various figures may be made to race if desired. The speed of a toy figure will depend largely upon the angle of the jointmember. It has been found in practice that in making legs for biped figures, that the best results are obtained if the grain of the cardboard is longitudinal of the leg.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, but the appended claims should be construed as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art.

I claim:

1. In a toy device: a body having a head and provided at its lower edge portion with a transverse slit inclined forwardly and downwardly a few degrees from a vertical plane; a thin resilient joint-member in said slit and frictionally engaged by said body, said joint-member having a pair of downwardly extending limb-portions provided with laterally extending tenons; and legs having slits impaled by said tenon members and interlocked therewith.

2. In combination in a toy device: a body; a joint-member comprising a. thin leaf spring having a cross-member secured to said body and having a pair of depending limb portions provided with laterally extending tenons; and a pair of legs mounted on said joint-members and havingslitted portions impaled by said tenons.

3. A device as specified in claim 2 in which the tenons are provided with downwardly opening slots to afford interlocking connections with the legs.

4. A device as specified in claim 2, in which each limb-portion of the joint-member is equipped with two tenons interlocked with a leg.

5. In combination in a toy device: a body; a joint-member comprising a thin flexible resilient plate secured to said body and having a limb-portion provided with a laterally extending tenon, said tenon having a downwardly opening slot; and a leg resiliently. secured to said body by said joint-member, said leg having a slit impaled by the tenon and interlocked therewith at said slot.

6. A walking toy comprising: a body provided with a head; two pairs of legs, each of said legs having a foot portion in the form of a rocker curved upwardly and forwardly to facilitate simulating a walking movement; and joint-members of thin resilient flexible material, said members forming resilient connections between said legs and said body.

'I. A device as specified in claim 6, in which each joint-member has a transverse portion attached to the body and has at each end a limbportion attached to one of the legs.

8. A walking toy figure comprising: a suitably blanked fibrous sheet of approximately .030" thickness provided with interlock-tabs and folded to form a body having spaced sides, back and front and an integrally formed head of single thickness; a pair of legs of similar material; and a leaf spring of approximately .006" thickness serving to secure said legs to said body resiliently.

9. A toy biped figure adapted to simulate a walking movement down an incline by the force of gravity comprising: a body and a pair of legs resiliently secured to said body, each of said legs having an integrally formed foot, said feet being folded to form an arch having forwardly and rearwardly extending resilient cantilever portions.

10. A toy figure comprising: a body and a pair of legs resiliently secured to said body, each of said legs having an integrally formed foot, said foot having side members folded along arcuate lines to provide an arch for said foot, and said foot having a forwardly extending integrally formed toe portion.

WILLIAM D. TORME. 

